Page 13 of Faking It
He slaps my back and smiles. “That’s fantastic! Love is incredible, isn’t it?”
“It is indeed.” Definitely going to hell.
“What a great way to help sell the platform to the masses. The CEO found love on it, and you can too.” He holds up his hands as he says the words, like he’s reading a billboard.
Fucking great. So much for playing the old ‘it didn’t work out’ card in a few days.
I give him a tight smile and wave to an acquaintance across the way. “I was just as surprised.”
“I can’t wait to meet her. What’s her name?”
“Robert! Zane! So good to see you!”
Thank god for you, Jacko.
I look over to where one of my closest friends is striding across the space, a mob of women nearly breaking their necks to see who he is.
“Jack!” Robert pulls Jack in for a quick man-pat and then steps back. Lucky for me the two of you have some kind of family history. Friend of an uncle’s or some shit like that. It made getting an introduction to Robert that much easier for me. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I always like to help support Zane in whatever pies he has his fingers in because I know it will be successful.”
Seems someone else brought their charm game tonight.
“Good to hear, good to hear,” Robert says.
“Looks like everything came together. Women, whiskey, and whales,” he says with a crooked smile, the whales being the lot of high risk investors standing around mingling with us. The ones Jack is subtly implying might buy the available shares of SoulM8 if Robert doesn’t.
“It’s a packed house indeed,” Robert says and smiles. “Zane was just telling me about his new—”
“Robert Waze? Is that you?” A voice to our left calls out.
“Excuse me, gentlemen,” Robert says, his face lighting up in a smile as he holds his finger up to his friend before turning back to me. “Zane, I’ll get with you later on meeting the candidates.”
“Of course, mate.”
Both Jack and I watch him walk away, and then I blow out an exaggerated sigh. “The fucking guy asked.”
Jack throws his head back and laughs, knowing Robert’s whole ‘you need to be a product of your own platform’ obsession. “And?”
“I told him I don’t need a fucking dating site to meet women.” I let the lie play for a second and watch the shock register over Jack’s face.
“You’re fucking with me, right?” he finally asks.
“Of course, I am. I told him I’d found someone. How could I say anything different? I want him to think SoulM8 works.”
“You’re so screwed.”
“I wish that was the case.” I laugh. “My night would be a whole lot better.”
“Oh, poor baby. Going through a little dry spell are we?”
“Now that I can take care of with a simple phone call. Robert thinking I have a girlfriend is a whole different issue.”
“It’s an easy fix to find someone to fill in temporarily.”
“Who? Tell me who would pass his approval test?” I ask as the very pretty bartender walks over and hands me a fresh drink. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” she says, her voice throaty, her eyes suggestive.
